Nice but for the £299 asking price I would have purchased the deal at Argos for the Acer Laptop £299 when it was in stock...I dont see the point of paying laptop prices for a netbook ( No CD/DVD Drive & small screen )

26th Oct 2009

v8griff;6690534

nice big screen too :-)

NahThenLad;6691403

Nice but for the £299 asking price I would have purchased the deal at … Nice but for the £299 asking price I would have purchased the deal at Argos for the Acer Laptop £299 when it was in stock...I dont see the point of paying laptop prices for a netbook ( No CD/DVD Drive & small screen )

Two different posts, both strange for similar reasons though - surely the whole point of a Netbook IS it's small size; the absence of the optical drive hardware too means it is going to be small, light and handy to lug around an use in a small space!

Yes, it's too dear for me to want to pay that, but that's another matter entirely!

26th Oct 2009

nihcaj;6691688

Two different posts, both strange for similar reasons though - surely the … Two different posts, both strange for similar reasons though - surely the whole point of a Netbook IS it's small size; the absence of the optical drive hardware too means it is going to be small, light and handy to lug around an use in a small space!Yes, it's too dear for me to want to pay that, but that's another matter entirely!

[FONT=Verdana]Agree - the problem is the hardware manufacturers keep on revising the 'standards' for netbooks (doesn't help that Microsoft is sticking it's oar in as well!)...it wasn't that long ago that an 8.9" screen size for a netbook was a spot on size to work with, as you could easily connect it to a larger TFT screen (if you needed larger desktop space to work with).

On top of that cost is a concern, as the prices are increasing for newer netbook models being introduced such as this one and several others on the go - it (the netbook) was meant to be cheap and now it's almost getting as expensive as a laptop or a desktop (if you look at the nettops coming out as well).

Cheers, Scotty Boy! :thumbsup:[/FONT]

26th Oct 2009

Plenty of juiceThanks to the choice of a capacious 6-cell battery, the … Plenty of juiceThanks to the choice of a capacious 6-cell battery, the NC20 doesn't let itself down when it comes to stamina either. Despite the larger display the NC20 lasted for an impressive 6hrs 46mins in our light-use test. Turn on wireless and start using the NC20 in anger and that figure soon dwindles to nearer the four-hour mark, but it's still way ahead of Dell's Mini 12.

Interestingly, I wrote this off after the initial reviews due th the "low power" of the nano.

Now there are lots of conflicting views on the relative power of the nano against the atom. Many reviews suggest that the nano is actually better at processing web-based applications and much better than the atom at displaying video, even though it's driving a bigger, higher definition screen. So, it depends what you want from it - will it play 3D games, no. Will it last 4-6 hours for web-surfing, emails etc. - Yes. I guess it's the same as always, suck it and see.

It will almost certainly be outclassed by Atom/Ion combos in the near future, but not at this price :whistling:

Original Poster28th Oct 2009

I've had this netbook for a few months and trawled just about every review on the web. Although not all reviewers agree but generally I feel the nano set up is much better/quicker on java based applications than the atom. I've even got a few older games to work ok.

I've tried the higher quality movies on youtube and it displays perfectly (without the 2GB upgrade).

28th Oct 2009

Scotty Boy;6694582

[FONT=Verdana]On top of that cost is a concern, as the prices are … [FONT=Verdana]On top of that cost is a concern, as the prices are increasing for newer netbook models being introduced such as this one and several others on the go - it (the netbook) was meant to be cheap and now it's almost getting as expensive as a laptop or a desktop Cheers, Scotty Boy! :thumbsup:[/FONT]

Agreed !!!!:thumbsup: That was the point I was trying to put across......Netbooks were a cheap way of owning something as near to a laptop at the cheaper cost than a laptop especialy if it was for people who only use the internet, Thats why I bought my daughter a Eee Pc 904 for Christmas:santa: last year for £224 delivered because the cheapest decent enough laptop new was over £300...it meant she still had a device she could use for Msn messenger/facebook etc.....Recently with prices as they are on the newer nettops I dont see the point of paying £300+ when you get more features like a optical drive and a 15" screen upwards.

29th Oct 2009

[QUOTE....Netbooks were a cheap way of owning something as near to a laptop at the cheaper cost than a laptop .[/QUOTE]

But that's not what they've become. This weighs just 1.5kg and has a battery that lasts 5+ hours - so Netbooks have become truly portable PCs - where previously a notebook would cost you a lot more money and still have restrictions.

The build quality is generally better than cheap laptops too ....... so if you just want a cheap laptop, you might be better looking elsewhere.:whistling:

29th Oct 2009

macliam;6720929

[QUOTE....Netbooks were a cheap way of owning something as near to a … [QUOTE....Netbooks were a cheap way of owning something as near to a laptop at the cheaper cost than a laptop This weighs just 1.5kg and has a battery that lasts 5+ hours - so Netbooks have become truly portable PCs - where previously a notebook would cost you a lot more money and still have restrictions.

But that's not what they've become. They are now being seen as the answer to everything computing! :-(

Having just this week set a Dell one up for a friend, (So played with it on XP and Windows 7) I am pleased I didn't buy one (I had been very tempted as the offer was SO good) - I was so disappointed. The processor (Atom N270) comes out at a score of 2.2 on Windows 7, so that's the weak component as all the rest are far higher, although that one is limited to just the 1Gb of RAM, so it can't be uprated like many others.

I am afraid they are what they say:‌ NETbooks, fine for use as a web browser, but absolutely pathetic for anything else, and way behind my tired old single core 1.5Ghz laptop! :-(

If you really want something that is portable but size is not SO crucial (eg. you are always in the car and not carrying it far), a standard budget 15.4" laptop worth buying is going to be from about 300 to say about 370 quid, as seen often enough on this site, and will be like a whirlwind by comparison. The times when laptops were dramatically more expensive than desktops is no longer the case, so the only the ultra-portability of a netbook is in it's favour, although it seems I might stick with my old PDA for that for now!

3rd Nov 2009

Sorry nihcaj, we'll have to agree to disagree.

I bought the NC20 for SWMBO - and I'm well pleased with it. I was taken in for a while by the experts who said "It's slow" ..... just by looking at the quoted 1.33Mhz ...... :whistling:

In fact it beats my Dell desktop and HP laptop on startup and connection to the net and is great for surfing, email, skype and photo storage/display .... it also stores a lot of music and playback through hedphones is great (the speakers are OK, but not very loud)

Build quality seems good too - no nasty rattly keyboard and a decent trackpad (although I still prefer a mouse) ........ and the extra 2" of screen and higher resolution makes this a prime choice for taking abroad - where wight and portability IS a major factor.:thumbsup:

3rd Nov 2009

macliam;6765377

In fact it beats my Dell desktop and HP laptop on startup

It will probably beat my Quad core machine too - that is dependent on what it loads up than anything else, and a newly installed PC has very little to stop it booting fast!